


somebody, somebody

by elizabethelizabeth



Series: Patterns of Talking [2]
Category: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Fade to Black, He/Him Pronouns for Alex Fierro, Karaoke, M/M, Resolved Sexual Tension, Song: Somebody To Love (Queen)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:01:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22739245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elizabethelizabeth/pseuds/elizabethelizabeth
Summary: karaoke night for the gang to celebrate the end of midterms ends in a sudden revelation.
Relationships: Magnus Chase/Alex Fierro, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: Patterns of Talking [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1405201
Comments: 9
Kudos: 120





	somebody, somebody

**Author's Note:**

> funny story, I wrote this almost a year ago, back when I thought I was going to make a whole ass, novel-length series for this au. I still might! in the mean time, have this!!!

“Well.” Alex took a sip from his glass, grinning at the stage. “At least we got a private room for this.”

Magnus was grateful for small miracles. It hadn’t been his idea to celebrate midterms with a karaoke party, but so far it hadn’t been too painful of a social outing. With a private room, he didn’t have to deal with the mortifying ordeal of his singing voice being known. He would have to be at least fifty percent more intoxicated to sing in front of a crowd of strangers, and he guessed the same could be said of his friends. Halfborn didn’t count; he’d sing “Total Eclipse of the Heart” in a lecture hall, no intoxication required.

Magnus followed Alex’s gaze, watching as Blitzen finished up a near-perfect routine to some new Taylor Swift song, vogueing in between lyric breaks. Magnus couldn’t help but notice Hearthstone’s eyes looking glazed as he filmed, and Magnus guessed it wasn’t all due to tequila. 

“Are we ever going to get you up there?”

Alex shrugged. “Maybe.”

“How about if I ask nicely?”

He gave Magnus a look that clearly implied he best not. “Do you even know me, Chase? That might hurt your chances of seeing me up there.”

“What if I dared you to?”

He snorted at that. “I’m not TJ.”

Magnus nodded, suddenly grave. “It’s like he’s honor-bound to accept any dare. It’s kinda scary.”

“He’s an idiot.” Alex took another sip, and then another. Magnus didn’t have the habit of making assumptions about Alex; he would inevitably prove them wrong every time, but Magnus couldn’t help but think he was steeling his nerve. “I guess it’s only fair. You lowered yourself to singing Nirvana, after all.”

“It’s a good thing I like my friends.” Magnus leaned towards Alex, conspiratorially. His alcohol-addled brain warned him it might be too close, but Alex didn’t pull away. “Just between us, if Hearth does put that video on Twitter, murder is a possibility.”

“I’ll make sure you have an alibi.”

“Really?”

“Unless there’s a reward for information about where you’re hiding, sure.”

Magnus leaned back, clutching his chest. “Fierro, you wound me. You wouldn’t?”

“I guess it depends on how big the reward is.” He grinned, feline-like, and Magnus’ tunnel vision was suddenly influenced by more than the significant amount of vodka he’d consumed. Alex took another sip, set his empty cup on the table, and stood, hand on Magnus’ shoulder to steady himself. “Time to show these assholes how karaoke is done.”

Magnus looked toward the stage again. Blitzen was bowing to thunderous applause and Halfborn’s whistling, and Magnus could see Hearthstone now openly staring, tequila be damned. Magnus felt a weight settle where Alex had just been, and Samirah’s voice in his ear. “What’s he going to sing?”

Alex was holding the tablet, a determined smile on his face blossoming as he pressed a song selection.

“No idea.”

It didn’t take long to find out.

Left hand on his hip, the other holding the mic to his mouth, Alex Fierro started singing. “ _ Can anybody… _ ”

The reaction was immediate. Samirah fist-bumped the air, immediately cheering, and she wasn’t alone. Mallory actually stood, exclaiming an enthusiastic  _ yas, queen _ . Hearthstone opened his phone again, straight to the camera app, as if knowing this wasn’t just karaoke. Alex Fierro never did anything halfway, it seemed. This was a  _ performance _ .

“ _ Somebody to love.” _

Alex winked, and Magnus was a goner.

Months of singing in front of Alex—hell, he was pretty sure he’d sung this exact song at least once in that time—and he never realized how much Alex could hold his own. Magnus didn’t think it was tipsy thinking; it was almost sacrilegious to fathom, but Alex rivaled Freddie Mercury on that small stage. His eyes didn’t stay on Magnus, but they seemed to gravitate towards him at opportune moments, tempting and teasing and testing and Magnus didn’t quite understand how easily he’d been hypnotized. 

“ _ I just can’t get no relief, Lord, somebody _ …”

Alex’s hips started swaying to the rhythm, and Magnus stopped breathing for a moment, choking back a strangled sound. He hoped the music was loud enough to cover it.

What the actual fuck was going on?

Magnus had to focus on something, someone, anything else or he would lose it. Mallory and Halfborn were standing, swaying arm in arm to Alex’s singing. Joining them in their off-key singing along was Blitzen, holding on to Hearthstone, still filming. TJ and Amir, hilariously, were waving their phone flashlights in the air, which could only be encouraging Alex’s performance that Magnus was definitely not watching in his periphery.

Magnus turned to see Samirah’s reaction to her brother’s act, but she wasn’t watching the stage. Instead, she was staring at Magnus. Her smirk, eerily reminiscent of Alex’s, confused Magnus.

“What?” Magnus mouthed at her, not wanting to interrupt Alex’s singing.

Samirah raised an eyebrow, looked at Alex, and then back to Magnus.

Magnus mimicked her gaze, looking at Alex right as he hit E flat of “ _ Somebody to _ …” with his eyes closed, face tilted to the ceiling, buttons of his pink flannel undone at the collar.

Magnus could see the sheen of sweat on Alex’s collarbones.

The change from confusion to realization was instantaneous.

Oh.

_ Oh. _

_ Fuck. _

Magnus needed to be sober immediately. This revelation did not need to happen with vodka in his system. Ideally, this realization didn’t need to happen at all. Magnus was suddenly freezing, goosebumps on his arms and shoulders. Why couldn’t he stop  _ staring  _ at Alex?

Magnus looked to Samirah, hoping she would offer some sort of guidance as to why Magnus was freaking out, maybe call him out on his weirdness, snap sense back into his brain.  _ No, bad Magnus! Stop lusting after my brother! _

Infuriatingly, she didn’t look like she was about to chastise Magnus. She was still smirking as she turned away, cheering on the end of Alex’s performance.

Magnus turned, stopped breathing again, heard nothing but his own shaky breathing. Alex was looking right at him, chest heaving from adrenaline. Magnus could clearly see the bright amber of Alex’s left eye, shining in the spotlight. There was no teasing in his face as he stared, no hidden laughter in his eyes. Any solace Magnus might have found in Alex was destroyed as Magnus began to understand the intensity of Alex’s expression.

Oh.

_ Huh. _

Magnus briefly considered rushing towards the stage and, in absolute rom-comical fashion, kissing Alex passionately and without abandon, but he was saved from that disastrous plan by Mallory exclaiming, “I am so fucked up right now!”

The spell was broken. Alex turned, already laughing at Mallory’s outburst.

“Magnus,” Samirah’s voice succeeded in bringing Magnus back to earth. “You okay?”

“Cool,” Magnus answered, hopefully not too quickly. “Totally cool.”

Samirah gave him a small smile. “Alex is going to chaperone Amir and I while I drive him home. You can come with us, if you want?”

The thought of being stuck in a cramped back seat with Alex Fierro sounded simultaneously amazing and horrifying. “Nah.” Horrifying won out. “TJ and I will take the T back to campus, make sure Gunderson and Keen don’t get into too much trouble.”

“Don’t fall asleep when you get there, okay?”

Alex appeared suddenly beside them, and Magnus tried not to jump out of his skin in surprise.

“I left my keys in the apartment. If you could stay awake long enough to let me back in, I’d appreciate it.”

“Yeah. Cool. Totally.”

Alex smirked, Magnus blushed, Samirah sighed. 

Magnus was exhausted by the time he made it back to the apartment, drunkenness replaced with the slow sobriety of heavy eyes and fumbling fingers. He remembered unlocking the door and stumbling inside, shoes kicked off into the kitchen, coat left on the coffee table. 

“Excellent job staying awake.”

Magnus shot up from the couch, forcing himself to focus on Alex. “I wasn’t asleep.”

Alex raised his eyebrows. “Is ‘bedhead’ the new hairstyle you’re going for, then? You can make it work, but it’s very early nineties.”

Magnus’ hands immediately went to fix his hair, which made Alex laugh. “How’d you get in?”

“You left your keys in the lock.” Alex dangled the keys in question before dropping them onto Magnus’ coat. “Amazing we weren’t robbed.”

“I would’ve fought them off.”

“Magnus Chase, Bed-headed Crime Fighter.”

“My locks are artfully mussed, so fuck you.”

Alex laughed again. Magnus expected him to continue teasing, make another jab at Magnus’ hair; maybe it would erase the tension from earlier. “So.” Alex took off his own coat, tossing it onto the couch next to Magnus. “I couldn’t help but notice...” Oh, no. “That you were very entranced during karaoke earlier.”

Magnus could have made a humorous quip back, dissolve any lingering tension that existed between the two of them, and the terrified part of Magnus’ brain demanded this. The booze got to him, surely. Like, sure, Alex is great. Alex is gorgeous. Alex is talented and funny and smart and stubborn and beautiful and annoying and wonderful.

The brave part of Magnus’ brain told the terrified part to fuck off.

“Hard not to be, with you performing.” Alex grinned, and Magnus stood to get a better look at the expression. “Where have you been hiding  _ that _ talent?”

“I’m a diva, I only perform when my audience demands it.”

“I should demand it more often, then.”

Alex flushed at that, and Magnus was only slightly alarmed at how badly he wanted to make Alex Fierro blush again.

“A private performance?” Alex’s voice caught on his words, despite his bravado. He clicked his tongue teasingly. “Naughty.”

“I…” Words had finally eluded Magnus. “Alex, I—”

“Are you sober right now?” 

That was definitely not what Magnus had been expecting, but he answered anyway. “Yes?” An inkling of the workings of Alex’s mind. “Are you?”

“I only had the one drink.” Alex moved around the coffee table, finally,  _ finally _ , close enough, and Magnus swore he could feel the heat radiating from Alex’s still-present flush. “I wanted to make sure you were sober before I kissed you. I thought about it doing it earlier, but I thought drunkenly making out in front of our friends would be in poor taste.”

“We’re the pictures of decorum, you and I.”

Alex paused long enough to roll his eyes before placing a hand on the nape of Magnus’ neck to drag him down, and Magnus was kissing Alex Fierro.

Oh.

_ Oh, yes _ .

Magnus made a noise of surprise that Alex swallowed down. Flashes of awareness seeped into Magnus’ subconscious: Alex tasted like limes, Alex stopped breathing when Magnus kissed his neck, Alex’s skin was unseasonably warm underneath the pink flannel.

When Alex breathed out Magnus’ name, low and wanting, Magnus swore his fucking heart stopped working, pressed up against his ribcage and made breathing impossible.

“You’re,” Magnus didn’t quite know what he was trying to say. It was hard to concentrate on words—pesky words, meaningless, what the fuck did words matter when Alex Fierro was pulling on his hair like  _ that _ ? “I, I’m not,” Alex didn’t stop kissing Magnus, but did ease up on the pressure, moving his hands to cradle Magnus’ cheeks. Magnus had to pull away completely before he lost his own nerve, but even still could only manage, “I’ve never…”

“Look at me.” Magnus didn’t even realize his eyes were closed. Alex’s soft expression washed away any lingering doubts Magnus held onto. “I’ve got you, okay?”

That was all the assurance Magnus needed. 


End file.
